


The Forgotten Ones

by BadWigBrando



Category: Naruto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 05:44:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9643121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadWigBrando/pseuds/BadWigBrando
Summary: Kankuro needs an answer from his mother





	

How many days has it been since he last laid his head on a pillow? If he were being honest, he lost count a long time ago. This wasn’t uncommon. Kankuro often missed many nights when he was engulfed in a project. There were many nights when he would wake up to a finished project, his fingers containing enough muscle memory to have finished on their own. That wasn’t tonight though.

Kankuro sat at his table, the wooden surface empty of any tools or supplies. For the first in months, his work table was clean and organized. Not even a pile of wood shavings could be found around his cavern of mechanics.

The shine of the table reflected back at him, half lidded eyes heavy with anxiety. His face, clean of paint, tensed for a few moments then was forced to relax. His fingers fidgeted with a spare screw, twiddling it back and forth, soothing his thumb around the ridges, and lightly pressing the tip against his fore finger.

One look over his shoulder, he turned back to the table.

Breathe in.

Out.

“..hey, mom.”

Two feet from Kankuro’s gaze was a picture of Karura, his mother. There weren’t many pictures of her around their house so he borrowed this one from Gaara’s desk. He said he only wanted to make copy of it since he didn’t have one of his own. That was still his plan but first…he had to test something.

Surrounding the photo was a light cycle of Gaara’s sand. It wasn’t too hard to get a bit of that either; their entire house was littered with the stuff and its not like Gaara would notice a few grains missing.

What was the point of this? It was weird and crazy and borderline voodoo magic but he didn’t believe that anyone could understand how he was feeling. Three months ago, Gaara found out that their mother did love him and probably their father too. It was confirmation that Gaara desperately needed and Kankuro was happy for his little bro…but where was his?

Where was the missing note from his mother that told Kankuro how much she loved him? Where are the hidden signs and magic and dead people to tell him, that his parents, loved him too? Why was he the forgotten one? Why were he and Temari always the forgotten ones?

“Mom…” he breathed, jaw tense. “Its been a while, huh? I’m all grown up now. All of us are..but I guess you know that.”

The end of the screw pressed firmly against Kankuro’s thumb, not deep enough to draw blood, only to leave a dent in his skin. He didn’t know what to say. How do you talk to the spirit of someone you barely even know?..

“I uh…I graduated from a Genin. I mean, that happened a while ago. A long time ago actually…I’m a Jounin now but I thought you…you might still want to know.”

His eyes scanned over the grains of sand for any sign of movement, if they were suppose to move at all?

“I inherited the Sasori Puppet from Sasori of the Red Sand. If you know who that is? I’m sure you do…I’m sure you did…uh..and I’m one of Gaara’s body guards cause he’s Kazekage now. None of us saw that coming, hah. It was a shock, but I’m proud of him. Temari’s proud of him. The village is proud of him. You’re proud of him..”

Kankuro’s head dropped forward, his gaze leaving her picture to stare at the table instead. “You’re proud of him and you love him. Which is great and all, he needs it. I guess he needs it more than me b-but—“ His words broke into a shuttering whimper. Kankuro took a deep breath to regain his composure, holding back the tears in his eyes. “Just— …can I just hear it? Or see it or spell it out for me? P-please. Mom…please?”

There was no use trying anymore. His face was wet with sorrow and desperation. The screw now threatened to break through skin as he tried to squeeze back his emotions. Large shoulders shook as Kankuro tried to breathe through it. His eyes met hers again.

“Do you love me, mom?”

Nothing.

A heavy silence covered the room as Kankuro sat there. He felt like an idiot, as if this could actually work, as if he could actually summon her spirit with a bad photo and some chakra infused sand. He should know that his mother loved him, that’s what everyone said, but he didn’t. He didn’t know and it wasn’t fair that he couldn’t.

“Yes.”

Kankuro’s head shot up, turning around to face his door. Standing in the entrance was Gaara, arms casually crossed over his torso. His expression was neutral, emotion hidden behind his pale eyes.

“Gaara! How long were you—“   
“She does love you, Kankuro.” Gaara stepped into the room, moving to sit next to his brother. He looked over the sand and the photo. Neutral.

“I’m sorry I took her away you and Temari.”

Kankuro shook his head, “Gaara. Stop it. That’s not what this is abou—“   
“I know what this is about, Kankuro,” he interrupted. “I heard everything you said. My existence isn’t fair to you. It wasn’t fair to anyone and because of me, our mother is gone before any of us got to chance to learn her feelings about us…”

Kankuro twiddled his empty fingers. He felt ashamed. He shouldn’t be wishing for his mother back, he should be appreciating how far Gaara had come. That was what was important; it was always what was most important.

“I’m sorry, Gaara.”

At this, Gaara’s face held a look of confusion. One light brow lifted in misunderstanding. “For what?”

“I— I’m happy that you’re my brother. I shouldn’t make you feel bad about anything that happened, yknow? It wasn’t your fault. None of it was.”

Gaara sighed. Things were so much different now then when they were kids. Gaara used to enjoy taking the blame for everything horrible that happened in his and his siblings’ lives, now Kankuro and Temari worked hard everything to make sure Gaara knew that he wasn’t a mistake. He wasn’t a burden.

He accepted this treatment but it wasn’t until now he realized his true impact. Maybe his siblings weren’t saying those things for him, but more so for themselves.

Shuffling on his knees, Gaara leaned to the side and wrapped his arms around his brother’s shoulder’s in an embrace. He held him tight, cheek resting against Kankuro’s messy brown hair. Up close, he could smell sawdust and heat radiating from his brother’s core.

“She loves you, Kankuro.”

“…uh..t-thanks.” He gave a half smile, hidden in his brother’s elbow. He appreciated the sentiment. Gaara was clearly trying to fix something that was unfixable.

“You might not believe me, Kankuro, but its true. I felt our mother’s love for you and Temari all the time. It came in such harsh waves, it was almost overwhelming. I didn’t understand what it was at the time.”

“Could’ve just been bad gas.” Kankuro joked.

Gaara shook his head. “It was love. It was one of the strongest feelings I had ever felt in my life and I tried to suppress it for so long until one day I couldn’t.”

Kankuro sighed, “Gaara. Thanks for all of this but you don’t have to try to fix this.”

“I’m not trying to fix this, I’m telling you the truth.” Gaara’s voice was a deep rumble, slow and steady. “…ask me how I know.”

Kankuro decided to humor his brother. “How?”

“Because that same feeling, the feeling I wanted to get rid of for so long, is how I feel about you and Temari now. Its how I always felt. I love you, Kankuro.”

Kankuro’s breath became shallow, catching in the back of his throat. His hand lightly gripped Gaara’s shirt sleeve. Tears rolled down and pooled at his chin, soaking into Gaara’s sleeve. He shook so more violently than he could ever recall.

“Gaara…” he managed to choke out, “..you don’t have to say that.”

“Yes, I do.” He hugged his brother tighter, trying to calm Kankuro’s trembles with his own body.

“I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and comments and share with your friends!!
> 
> sandrunes.tumblr.com


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